Vegas Robaina Clasicos UUS MAY 05 (XNYRW6)

[MasterShake72]

I got these from a popular vendor and when they arrived, some stick suffered some minor foot damage. I'm not one to cry over spilt milk though, they're completely smokeable, though some won't be winning any beauty pageants. This is one of those sticks that is a tad ugly. It has some wrapper missing over the foot but I'm 100% sure that it won't cause me any problems. Upon opening the 5 count petaca, there really isn't much aroma to speak of.

First third: This is smooth right off the bat with no in your face pepper. It has a great aged tobacco taste and features wood, coffee and a little cocoa. Very enjoyable, but not mind blowing.

Second third: Much of the same throughout the second third; cedary wood with coffee and cocoa that occasionally becomes dark chocolate that fades in and out. There is a bit of a spice that pops up that I would describe as rosemary and its very pleasant. 

Final third: Well, if you like crazy transitions, prepare to be disappointed because this is more of the same. I've enjoyed it but don't need to burn my fingers with this one so I take it down to 1/2" and then toss it in the tray at that point. It never once got hot and I could've pulled out my draw tool and kept it going for a bit longer if I wanted to.

SCORING

Pre-light Experience: Between the crack and the fact that this came from a 5x5 box does nothing to make this stand out. Theres nothing glamorous about cardboard packaging to add to the experience, not like a nice 898 box or a 50 cab. The cigar itself was nice, but nothing that really jumps out at you, kinda average. The aroma was also a bit lacking so I'll give this a very average 6/10

Smoke Production: I like a cigar with a lot of smoke, and this provided plenty. No complaints here at all. 10/10

Construction: Not a single complaint here. No issues at all, not even a single relight, even when I left it sitting for a couple minutes when I got caught up in a text message conversation. Flawless. 30/30

Flavor: The flavors present were solid but somewhat standard for what I would expect from a good aged Cuban. I wouldn't have minded a little more variety or some transitions at some point. It was tasty, but in no way mind blowing. 24/30

Value: This is a category that's strictly a comparison to other stuff available in the marketplace at the same pricepoint. As a baseline to give you an idea of how I would judge this, a fresh BRC would generally score as a 14/20 for me. Which is to say, its worth what you paid (assuming $10-12 in the current market) but no more, and represents a "C" grade. These cost me somewhere around ~$20/stick just 5 months ago and I thought they represented a good value at that price buying blind, but I'd gauge their value in the current marketplace to certainly be north of $25 and possibly as much as $30. In either case I'd pay a fair amount more than what they cost me. 20/20

Overall: With some quick arithmetic this adds up to a 90 point stick, which feels dead nuts right. While I was smoking this I thought this would score somewhere between an 88 and 91. It's a good stick, but not a great one. Having just picked these up relatively recently and being unable to smoke these throughout the years to know for sure, I would have to say that they feel like they are at their peak now (or have already peaked in the recent past) and would be worth smoking through in the next 3-5 years. They're 17 years old and the lack of transitions signal there isn't a whole lot of mystery to unveil at this point. Smoking time was in the vicinity of 2 hours, maybe a tad less. This started off being extremely mild and finished as a mild+, but if you want strength, maybe don't let your cigars sit around for 17 years eh?